The Kiss 1995

Mark Kostabi painted The Kiss with acrylic on canvas. Kostabi rose to prominence in the 1980s for work that seems deliberately detached from the hand of the artist, a cool, impersonal style that anticipated the digital age. His aesthetic blends surrealism with pop art, a sensibility reflecting a culture saturated with imagery. Kostabi's approach to production is particularly telling. He often employed studio assistants to execute his paintings, a practice that raises questions about authorship and the role of labor in art. The faceless figures and smooth surfaces of The Kiss further emphasize this sense of detachment, and reflect the aesthetics of mass production. Are these paintings that anyone could have made? Or is there an artistic skill involved in the design process? By considering the materials, the making, and the wider context in which Kostabi operated, we can begin to unravel the complex social and cultural meanings embedded in this image of a couple embracing.